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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23094376">Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkoutsidethebex/pseuds/thinkoutsidethebex'>thinkoutsidethebex</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, Reader-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:35:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23094376</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkoutsidethebex/pseuds/thinkoutsidethebex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When contact is lost with the Avengers, Y/N assumes the worst has happened, and that this might be the time Bucky doesn’t come home.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy 103rd birthday Bucky Barnes!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun was just starting to rise when you heard the engines of the Quinjet approaching. You stood, staring out the window and chewing on your nails, like you always did when you waited for Bucky to come home. It felt like all you had done since moving into the tower was wait for him. Mission after mission, you watched him walk out the door and spent the entire time he was gone pacing holes in the floor and biting your fingernails down to nubs. This time was no different.</p>
<p>The mission had been scheduled for a week, but it had been two since you’d last heard from him. Losing comms wasn’t uncharted territory for the Avengers, but this was the longest it had ever lasted. Bucky was notorious among the team for doing whatever it took to get word to you. Two weeks of radio silence was absolute torture. With every passing day you felt more and more hopeless. Getting out of bed became the hardest part of your day, because being wrapped around Bucky’s pillow was the closest you felt to him. Seeing his things on the dresser or his clothes in the closet caused you to burst into tears. As the second week of no contact drew to a close, you started to resign yourself to the fact that Bucky might never be coming home.</p>
<p>Until this morning.</p>
<p>FRIDAY woke you up with an alert at 6AM. You groaned and pulled a pillow over your head, waving your hand at the imaginary clock.</p>
<p>“FRIDAY, snooze it!” You were too groggy to remember you hadn’t set an alarm in over a week.</p>
<p>“You have an incoming call from Steve Rogers,” she chimed in response.</p>
<p>“What the fuck? FRIDAY, answer him!” you shrieked, scrambling out of bed. The display screen with his name popped up and your breath caught in your chest. “Steve? Oh my God, where are you? Where’s Bucky?”</p>
<p>“We’re on our way back,” Steve answered shortly. “I need you to prep the med bay. We have injured.”</p>
<p>“Steve, what happened?” you pleaded. “Where is Bucky?” Steve’s silence seemed to stretch on for years, and it was then that you realized how wrong things were. Bucky was always the one to call and tell you he was coming home. Sometimes it was nothing but a quick “Hey doll, headed home.” It didn’t matter what he said, just that he told you he was ok. But it wasn’t him calling this time. Just as your mind started to spiral, Steve answered.</p>
<p>“Bucky’s hurt, Y/N. Please prep the med bay.” You swallowed thickly before agreeing and ending the call.</p>
<p>Half an hour later, the Quinjet landed. You got a brief glimpse of the team running inside with a gurney before Natasha had rushed to you and held you back.</p>
<p>“You don’t need to see this,” she whispered, her arm around your middle. You tried to call out to Bucky, to let him know you were there, but your voice caught in your throat. Tears poured down your face as she dragged you back through the doors. You didn’t bother to fight, knowing you wouldn’t be able to overpower her even if you tried.</p>
<p>“What happened?” you whimpered, turning to shuffle along beside her.</p>
<p>“Intel was bad,” she answered curtly. “Bucky and Clint were supposed to wait for backup but your boyfriend got jumpy.” You sniffled and laughed softly as she wrapped an arm around your shoulders.</p>
<p>“That sounds like him,” you sighed. Natasha squeezed you gently and walked you to the waiting area of the med bay. Clint was sitting in an exam room across from you with a bloody rag held against his head. He froze when he saw you, his mind clearly racing to come up with an apology. It was his intel that had jump-started the mission in the first place. You gave him a soft smile and a shake of your head before his doctor drew the curtain.</p>
<p>“He’s gonna be fine,” Nat assured you again. “He was stronger than most of us before he was a super-soldier.” You nodded slightly and sat in the hard plastic chair, watching the clock tick by as you waited for news.</p>
<p>The next thing you knew you were being gently woken up by Steve. Sunlight was pouring through the windows and the clock on the wall pointed to noon. Almost 6 hours had passed since they got back.</p>
<p>“Morning sunshine,” Steve said, handing you a cup of coffee. “I’m impressed you could sleep on these chairs. They’re worse than army barracks.” You yawned and stretched before sitting up and taking the hot cup from him.</p>
<p>“How is he?” you asked without hesitation.</p>
<p>“He’s fine,” Steve answered. “Resting now. Doc said if it weren’t for the serum he wouldn’t have survived. I told him Bucky’s just too damn stubborn to die.” You sighed deeply and relaxed back into the chair. Bucky was okay. He was home and safe and okay. Tears started to fall again before you had the chance to blink them back. Steve noticed and sat next to you, putting one of his large arms around you.</p>
<p>“Hey. I know,” he said softly. “But he’s okay. He’s going to be here and keep annoying the shit out of both of us for years to come.” You laughed softly and wiped your eyes on the back of your hand. Steve rubbed your arm soothingly and you both sipped your coffee in silence.</p>
<p>“Can I see him?” you finally asked. Steve chuckled and stood, offering his hand.</p>
<p>“Of course.” You followed him down the hall to a large private room in the back corner of the med bay. The sun streamed in through the giant windows, and the view would have been beautiful if you had been paying attention to it. Your eyes went immediately to Bucky who was sitting up on the bed and arguing with the doctor.</p>
<p>“I’m telling you, I feel fine! Good as new doc. I just need to find-“ He stopped mid-sentence when he saw you and Steve enter the room. The anger he’d been spewing at the doctor melted from his face, replaced with the softness you’d grown accustomed to.</p>
<p>“Her,” he finished.</p>
<p>For a moment, nothing moved. The beeping of the monitors attached to Bucky faded from your ears and all you could focus on were the brilliant blue eyes staring back at you. Eyes that, until this moment, you thought you’d never see again. Bucky chewed his lip nervously, seeming to wait for you to explode. Time finally caught up to you, and a sob escaped your throat as you ran to him and jumped into his hospital bed. His arms wound around you and a soft sigh escaped his lips as you buried your face into the crook of his neck and wept.</p>
<p>“Hey, shhh. It’s okay doll. I’m okay.” He rubbed your back and whispered into your ear as you cried, assuring you he was fine. Steve nodded to the doctor and they left the room quietly, closing the door behind them. After a few minutes, you pulled back to take a good look at Bucky. He looked more or less fine except for a few small cuts still not fully healed on his face and arms. One large gash, that you guessed was the reason behind the panic, still stretched across his forehead. You reached up to brush some hair back from it and Bucky winced and softly pulled your hand away.</p>
<p>“That one’s still tender,” he said.</p>
<p>“I…I thought…,” you stammered. Bucky took your face in his hand and kissed you gently on the forehead.</p>
<p>“I know, babydoll,” he sighed gently. “But I’m okay. I’m right here.” He wrapped his arms around you and the two of you sat silently holding one another until Bucky finally spoke.</p>
<p>“Run away with me,” he said suddenly. You pulled back in surprise.</p>
<p>“Wh-what?”</p>
<p>“Run away with me,” he repeated. When you didn’t answer, he kept going. “We can leave tonight. I have enough money for us to go wherever we want. Just say where.” You swallowed thickly and searched his eyes for any sign he was joking.</p>
<p>“Buck we can’t just…just leave,” you said.</p>
<p>“Why not?” he asked, and you had to admit you didn’t have a good answer. He sighed and took your hands in his. “Baby, I can’t keep doing this. These missions are getting harder every time, and if this last one is any indication then I don’t have very many left. I would rather spend the rest of my life sitting on a porch drinking lemonade with you than having to leave you in the dead of night and not know if I’m gonna make it home. Please, baby.”</p>
<p>“Bucky, this is our home,” you argued. Bucky looked at you, brow furrowed in confusion.</p>
<p>“No, Y/N. You’re my home,” he said softly. “You always have been.” For a moment, you planned to argue with him and try and get him to stay. But as he stared at you with fear and desperation in his eyes, all your arguments faltered. You leaned in and kissed his lips gently and smiled.</p>
<p>“Where are we going?”</p>
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